Congratulations Danny!

Don't know if anybody else has mentioned this, but I was thumbing through the April/May edition of TAS and happened upon the CES coverage, which included a nice glossy photo of associate editor Jonathan Valin experiencing an Epiphany, i.e., bowing in front of one of the smaller models. The writeup and space given to Epiphany seemed more than devoted to anything else. For those who don't have access to the magazine, I quote:

"You don't have to be an audiophile to hear what the Epiphanies do right. Describing it is a little trickier. the Epiphanies put more air between and among vocalists and instrumentalists than virtually any speaker I've heard. At the same time, they have superior image focus, on a par with any speaker I've heard. By superior image focus I do not mean the too-tight, "edge-enhanced" images of certain speakers and electronics, but the bloomy, soft-edged, three dimensional presences that voices and instruments create in life -- the kind of presences that makes them 'pop out' from an ensemble when they are playing individual lines in certain registers or playing forte.

The complex, ever-changing interrelationship of presence, perspective, and dynamics is precisely what I mean when I talk about instrumental 'action,' about the way that instruments seem to leap into the foreground (or recede into the middleground or background) depending on how forcefully they are being played, the register they are played in, and the musical lines they are playing, and the Epiphanies were simply exceptional at reproducing it...Happily, the Epiphany 12-12s weren't just marvelously three-dimensional. Once again on the basis of the little time we were able to spend with them, they were also fairly neutral, full-range, detailed, and lovely sounding. To sum up, I think the Epiphanies may be high-end contenders--and, at $14.5k, high-end bargains, at that."

Well, I have to say that anybody who thinks $14.5k is a bargain must be a little nuts, but still-high praise. At one point he mentions Ken Gates, Epiphany's owner, and sais that whatever he's done with the ribbons, woofers and enclosures is a proprietary secret. Guess we know what that secret is. Kudos! It's nice to see an AC guy doing well, even if he isn't mentioned.

At the C.E.S. I made it a point to go to the hotel where the Epiphanies were and to say hi to Danny. I heard the smaller model ( the one I think is referred to in this thread) and was very impressed by the natural sounding instrumental persentation. I'm very picky about that, as I play clarinet and in a very large symphonic band as well as smaller groups. Danny has done quite a design job. I wouldn't know what's proprietary about the cabinets but the driver/crossover design is Danny's.Congratulations on the nice reviews, Danny!

The 12.12's were the ones being bowed to. Those are the middle-sized model. Pretty much the same size cabinet as the Alphas.Some 'middle' model 'eh?

I'll have to look up that Bound for Sound impression.

I know the only other speakers at T.H.E. SHOW and CES (not that I heard all of them, but I did hear a LOT over several days) made anywhere near the same impression on me as the Epiphanies were the big MBL's.

I was expecting those to be goofy and sound weird (since they look crazy), but they were outstandingly dynamic and detailed, but I didn't think the omnipole-type output from them worked 'cept when dead center.

I thought the 12.12's and 20.21 Epiphany were the best of the show by a wide margin. Only the MBL were close or as good but diff. IMO.

wshuff said -"Well, I have to say that anybody who thinks $14.5k is a bargain must be a little nuts, but still-high praise.-"

hehe yeah, but if you look at the cost of those MBL or say the big VonSchwikert (sp?) there.... it really is a great deal cheaper.

All beyond my pocketbook, but when I came home and listened again to my Alphas, I didn't wish I owned the 12.12's or 20.21's as much as I wished my front end sounded as good as the Edge gear in the Epihpany/Edge room or many of the so natural/liquid tube amps I heard.

Note... when I returned from Vegas my Alphas were hooked to an all digital $800 Sony rec. which I soon after returned for having screwed up highs here and there, and I think Sony just recently recalled them too.

Yeah, I still think $14.5K is nuts. Maybe if I had it laying around, my reference would be different. It did make me feel happy for Danny to have people praising his design, even if he didn't make it into the review. And while $14.5K may be a bargain for some, I'm thinking that those who browse this forum probably wouldn't have to go too far to figure out an even bigger bargain, one that for that same $14.5K might put 6 pairs or so in one room. But I'm not naming names. Just wanted to give Danny a thumbs up.

Azryan, I have that Bound for Sound issue. I'll have to dig it up and see what it says. PM me if interested.

It's been awhile, and I saw so many speakers at CES that I'm having trouble remembering correctly, but weren't the Epiphany speakers the ones demo'd at T.H.E. show w/ the Edge gear? The ones in that front room of that San Remo satellite building that was generally dominated by Halcro?

If so, which model was that? I got a chance to listen to them for ~20 minutes and remember them sounding very nice. Didn't know Danny was involved w/ those. They sounded great!

Wow, two Epiphany owners here at AC, including one who owns the 20/21! Have I missed something, or are they just quiet? I hope that they post a few things. I'm sure that there are plenty of people around who would love to hear about them.

The ones in that front room of that San Remo satellite building that was generally dominated by Halcro?

That was the room, but from the number of people that I heard say that the Epiphany/Edge room was _______ better than the Halcro/JM Lab/Wilson rooms that I would have to conclude that the area was generally dominated by Edge/Epiphany praisers.

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If so, which model was that?

All three models were hooked up to active displays.

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Have I missed something, or are they just quiet?

The 12/12 owner has been a little bit quiet.

The 20/21 owner has just gotten his and may not be able to have them up and playing till next week.

wshuffI was fortunate enough to hear the Epiphany at Danny's last fall, and after some hand wringing thought I would take the plunge. I haven't said much partly because my setup was limiting the 12/12 and I was really wasn't beginning to tap their potential. Just recently things have improved quite a bit. Since I brought them home I have changed cables and DAC, plus made a lot of improvement in room treatment. I'm still not hearing quite what they are capable of, but I'm to the point now that everything sounds really good.

I've got to second the naturalness of sound. Both vocals and instruments seem very accurate tonally, and soundstage and imaging are first rate. The ability to recreate impact can be startling sometimes. I'll be listening to a recording I know pretty well and jump when some impact comes from bass drum or guitar that I've never experienced before.

BTW, Danny and friends, including Gary Dodd, are first rate. I'd recommend them to anyone as a source of help and information as well as a source of really good products.

Hey SRC, just because I've been out of the loop for a few days doesn't mean I wasn't checking in.

Don't be so quiet. If I'm not mistaken, those 12/12s you have are the same model that the TAS guy was paying homage to in the photo. He obviously was impressed. So if you get a chance I'd love to hear your take on them, especially how they compare to previous speakers you've owned.

And what finish did you get? I've read that the finish on the models at the S.H.O.W was great, but I haven't seen a good pic to really show the veneer.

I got waylayed at work; finally back to the world of the living. Wish I did, but I don't have any of those fancy finishes. I have the final model used in the design of the Epiphany, and it has a semi-gloss black finish. Actually quite nice, but I think I may have a black oak veneer attached in the future. As Danny predicted, though, once you get them up and running you don't want to take them down and mess with them. As to speaker comparisons, my first real pair of speakers were EPI two-ways. Sounded really good until a woofer exploded playing Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Looked pretty cool, with a black powder looking blast mark on the woofer. Later moved up to Acoustats and then to Eminent Technology LFT3 planars. Those were exceptional. Super clean and holographic in a little tiny sweet spot. Dynamics and body though were a different matter. Then started experimenting, trying Vandersteen 3A, AudioVector, Talon Peregrines, then Gallo Nucleus Reference before the Epiphany. The AudioVector had a lot of potential and I don't think I spent enough time and effort to do them justice. Still, the Epiphany is a different animal. Fast, clean, 3-dimensional but with body and impact. With some more time, I can do a better job of describing them and comparing to the others that I know about. My impression is that the line source does not do up-close and intimate as well with a small group setting, because they provide a larger scale image. They really do convey an intimate emotional connection to the performance, but not so much sense of being in a small corner of a club with a trio playing.